The Silent Friend
by Lord Yellowtail
Summary: A GI Joe crossover. Alone on a sight seeing flight, Starfire stumbles upon some unsavory happenings that don't have anything to do with Slade. When she's forced to interfere, she lands in a new kind of trouble, and drags the Titans in with her.


A/N: First and foremost: I own none of the GI Joe or DC characters mentioned herein. This is a crossover between GI Joe and animated Teen Titans. I'm trying to stick as close to the comics as I can for the former, but there may be some overlap with the TV version. I do not have access to a lot of images, so some of the uniforms may be slightly modified. Enjoy. And please review. All comments, including constructive criticism, are welcome and appreciated. Thanks to Virtual Faerie for Beta-reading.

Flight is joy. That's how she'd explained it to Raven when the mysterious girl had asked how to utilize her powers when their souls were switched during their fight with the Puppet King. Focus on one truly joyous thought, and you would find yourself dancing with the clouds. It was such a simple concept to her people that even the youngest of children could race though the heavens. Yet, if it all depended on joy, it was a wonder the orange girl was preventing herself from falling out of the sky with the grace and skill of a large rock...

Starfire left Titans Tower a few hours before the sun rose, with the intention to go on a little sightseeing flight. Alone. It wasn't that she was particularly upset with any one of her friends. Quite the contrary: she couldn't think of a single instance when she had ever been angry with any of them. Robin's secrecy was sometimes worrisome, but she cared about him too much to let it really hurt her, most of the time.

No, sometimes she just wanted to be _alone_ for a while. Not as much as Raven, of course, and not nearly as often, but sometimes it was nice to get away for a bit. Her new friends, as much as she was attached to them, sometimes forgot that she was only unfamiliar with earth's cultures, not completely helpless. She appreciated the fact that her friends were willing to look out for her, but sometimes it got to be just a little overbearing. So she took to the skies and flew for hours, just observing the earth below, looking for new and exciting things.

She was clad in her usual purple miniskirt and matching tank topÑafter all, it really did no good to attempt to blend in when one had orange skin and eyes with decidedly green-toned whites. Robin once told her not to worry about her appearance. In their city, according to him, she and Raven could pass for normal most of the time, so long as they didn't take off or start blowing things up.

She had been flying for hours, long ago leaving the confines of the city. She soared high into the atmosphere, as fast as her powers would carry her. It was her intention to find and explore some mountains. It was December, so there should be plenty of beautiful snow to see. As far as she was concerned, she had not seen enough earth snow.

Starfire began to descend once she came in sight of a huge, suitably powder covered peak, a grin slowly forming on her face. It was quite hilly and covered with large trees. She could hear birds chirping happily in the distance. _This is perfect! I wonder if there will be squirrels here...I like squirrels. Someday, I will convince Robin to allow me to keep some in the Tower. They will surely not raid the bees. We don't even have any bees._ The alien girl slowed, letting her eyes roll over every detail of the scene. It was really a pity humans had such a low tolerance for cold ... she would have loved to bring Robin here for a picnic. She smiled to herself. Perhaps, if she found a spot in advance, she could convince him to go. He would just have to ... bundle up a little. She giggled as the image of Robin, replete in his uniform and wearing a large fur coat, formed in her head. For some reason, her picture had him looking more than a bit disgruntled.

Starfire stopped moving abruptly when a new sound filled her ears; something completely unnatural. She recognized the noise immediately. It was a succession of short, loud pulses. _That sounds like weapons firing._ Just over the next hill, a thin plume of smoke was quickly rising into the air. Her entire body stiffened as one dark thought took over her consciousness. _Slade. Could he be here? But why? What would he be plotting in a forest?_ A thought occurred to her then, and it hit her with all the force of a freight trainÑhad she been followed? Was their mysterious enemy setting some sort of trap for her? For Robin?

She glanced at the communicator hanging on her hip, mentally debating whether or not she should call the others. If it was Slade, she would need help taking him onÑhe and his robots had bested her too many times when she was surrounded by her friends. But if it wasn't ... if she was just being paranoid ... _I would not want to be accused of chasing geese. Perhaps it is something less dangerous, and I am simply being overly worried. At the very least, there may be a fire starting. Someone must check._ Her mind made up, she moved her hand away from her communicator, and slowly lowered herself to the ground. As quietly as possible, careful not to crunch the snow beneath her feet, she began to climb the hill.

Upon reaching the top, she knelt carefully behind a small bush and peered into the small valley below. Slade and his minions were nowhere to be seen, but the sight that greeted her was no less alarming. "Oh, my," she whispered, her voice full of surprise. The valley itself was devoid of all but the smallest of bushes and bordered on all sides by thick, tall trees. That, to be certain, was the only remotely normal thing about the place.

The valley was crawling with people clad in odd uniforms like nothing Starfire had ever seen before. There were too many for her to easily count. All of them were murmuring excitedly, with varying heights and builds that seemed to range from tall and stringy to short and bulky. As for what they actually looked like, Starfire couldn't say. All of them were wearing masks that hid every inch of their bodies. The majority wore cloth masks over their noses and mouths. In some cases, even their eyes were impossible to see, obscured completely by dark, reflective visors. Their bodysuits were black, accented by purple flak vests and matching gauntlets and thigh guards. But it wasn't so much what they were wearing as what they were _armed_ with that Starfire found highly disturbing. Each had an assortment of six small, metallic round things strapped to either shoulder. She recognized them as grenadesÑshe had certainly had enough hurled in her general direction since she arrived on earth to be familiar with their appearance. Those were no cause for concern, though. She could easily fly out of range of such weapons. No, it was the mammoth machine gun each man was carrying that sent waves of alarm though her: each was easily bigger around than both of her arms put together, and perhaps a little longer than her upper torso. And they were carrying them like they weighed nothing. The whole scene had the air of something very, very wrong.

Starfire's eyes settled at last on the source of the smoke she had seen earlier, and she did her best not to scream, managing instead to limit herself to a very small squeak. None of the maniacs belowÑand she'd now decided they were indeed suffering from some form of mental derangementÑseemed to hear it, so she continued to observe.

A small group of six purple-armored men was gathered around a large, red, goopy pile of mush, pointing and chuckling. Their weapons were hanging off their shoulders. At first, she hadn't been able to recognize whatever the smoldering thing was, but then one of the men moved, and she could clearly make out the severed, charred head of a terran fox. She felt sick. She didn't have any time to deal with her stomach, though: one of the men was speaking.

"You roasted him good, Jimmy." This came from a short, muscular man. His voice was deep and, unless Starfire was very much mistaken, carried a nervous edge.

_What a despicable man_, she thought angrily. _What kind of person would torture an innocent animal to death for his own amusement? Who are these people?_ A sudden fury flashed through her body, her eyes beginning to glow a vibrant iridescent green. _No! I must not lose control. I must find out what these strange people intend to do here. Surely killing small animals is not their only aim. Robin would not attack without first knowing what was going on._ She took a deep breath, and the light in her eyes faded. Another man, this one taller and a good bit wider through the chest, chuckled deeply. The barrel of his machine gun was smoking. Starfire narrowed her eyes. _You must be Jimmy._ She laid a hand on her communicator. She needed to call for help. This was just too bizarre. She only stopped the motion of her arm when the killer-of-woodland-creatures decided to answer. His voice was deep, and more than a little cocky.

"Just practice, boys. That bastard ninja isn't gonna know what hit him."

"I can't believe we're going after ... him." This was a third man. He sounded decidedly less enthusiastic. "Of all the Joes, why does it have to him?"

"Shut up, Dick," a fourth one snapped coldly. "He's just a man. There's no way he can take all of us on ... even if that red haired bitch is with him."

"Yeah, Riley, that's the spirit," Jimmy cut in. "Come tomorrow morning, we'll be looking at one dead Joe ... two if we're lucky."

"You'll be lucky if you're looking at anything, you idiots!" Another figure walked into Starfire's field of vision, the men she was observing quickly turning to greet her. All of them were suddenly looking highly nervous. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" The voice was strong and heavily accented. Its owner was a tall woman with fair complexion and jet-black hair that fell to the middle of her shoulder blades. Her dark eyes rested behind a pair of round black-rimmed glasses. Like the others, she wore an armored bodysuit, though it was considerably less bulky than the others'. It was somehow blacker and darker than her hair, almost seeming to absorb the light around her. A red, stylized head of a sort Starfire couldn't recognize was emblazoned across her chest. The woman drew a large, sleek, black silenced pistol from a holster on her hip and pointed it at the lot of them. All other activity in the clearing abruptly stopped. "Now," the woman hissed acidly, "listen up. We're not just going after _anybody_. He's killed and maimed more people than all of you put together. Unless you're all extremely careful, you'll be dead before you cock your weapons. Some of you will probably end up dead _if_ you're extremely careful. But I'll tell you this. Your skills and stealth won't mean a thing if you make so much noise he hears you coming because you've decided to roast the local wildlife. Next time you decide to shoot something up, it better be him! Understood?"

Jimmy answered for his quivering compatriots. "Yes, Ba...Ba...Baroness. We understand. I was just trying to lighten the mood a little. My buddies and I are a bit nervous."

Baroness stared at them for a moment, considering. Eventually, she lowered her weapon. "Alright. That's completely understandable." In a swift, fluid motion, she leveled her pistol again and fired, a bullet flying from the silenced barrel. Jimmy fell backwards, a large hole between his wide eyes now seeping fresh blood. She turned and stalked off, leaving the remaining men in shocked silence. "Idiots. _Everybody back to your positions._ We have a job to do." After a few moments, some of the men began gathering into smaller groups and lining up facing the south end of the clearing. As one, they carefully raised their rifles and pointed them forward. Dozens of hard clicks could be heard as rounds were chambered and safety locks were disengaged. Twelve of the soldiers disappeared into the brush.

Starfire clapped a hand over her mouth and breathed deeply through her nose in an effort to calm herself. What had she gotten herself into? _That woman, the Baroness, is on her way to kill people named Joe. They said Joes were dangerous ... but ... these people are evil. They must be evil. She shot her own teammate. And those Joes fought them before ... that must make them good people. Someone has to warn them. But how can I warn someone I cannot find?_ She looked back down at the valley. The soldiers (_They must be soldiers...evil soldiers._) were now waiting obediently for orders from the woman identified as "Baroness." She had seen enough, and reached for her communicator. Fighting them by herself might be too dangerous. She didn't know what they could do. But she had no choice. There was no way her friends would be able to get there fast enough for her to wait. _I must try to stall for time after I call the others. I will have to be careful._ Her hand was closing over the white communications unit when Fate, as it is sometimes wont to do, decided it really didn't like her. At that moment, Starfire's communicator went off. Loudly. Shrill, melodic tones filled the air. _Oh ... this is not good. Not at all._

Everyone below stopped once more, but this time they weren't concerned with their leader's fury. That, in fact, happened to be directed somewhere else entirely. The Baroness turned her head sharply upward. "What the devil was _that_?" Her eyes roved quickly over the brush covering the crest of the hill. It didn't take long for a shock of brilliantly red hair to catch her eyes. _Scarlett?_ In an instant, her pistol was pointing at the offending hair. All at once, the commando's magnificent strategy of stealth was thrown out the window. After all, what was the point of attempting to go unseen if they had, in fact, been seen? At the very least, she could end the day knowing she had gotten one of her targets. "_There!"_ _Here's to your last mistake, Scarlett._ She fired.

Starfire ducked. She could feel as well as hear the bullet fly by her ear. _Enough. These people must be stopped._ She jammed her palm against the communicator's panic button. _How foolish_, she thought quickly, _I should have called long ago. But they will come now. I must buy time. I have no time to talk. Robin, please hurry._ Summoning forth all her courage, she flew into the air, eyes blazing. "_Stop!_ I have heard enough of your plotting. I will not allow you to hurt anyone."

The Baroness was momentarily caught off guard. All around her, her soldiers leveled their weapons on Starfire's chest, some unable to help the shaking in their arms. After a moment, she sneered. Various confused murmurings could be easily heard. "Well ... that's certainly unexpected." The older woman's voice lacked none of its earlier confidence. "And who would you be, little girl?" _What the hell? What is that thing? What's she doing so close to Snake Eyes' cabin?_ She tightened her grip on her weapon. In the end, it wouldn't really matter.

Starfire did her best to keep any anxiety from registering on her face. "I am Starfire," she announced confidently. "What you are doing is wrong. I am going to ask you just once to surrender, then I may be forced to hurt you."

Baroness titled her head to the side, seemingly deep in thought. "I see. You must be one of Snake Eyes' new recruits. I didn't realize the Joes had begun recruiting underage, abhorrent freaks of nature. For future reference, you should know I never surrender."

Starfire stiffened, balling her fists. _This is not working._ "I do not know anyone named Snake Eyes." Her voice was much harder now, and her eyes narrowed. "Nevertheless, I cannot allow you to carry out your plan. You intend to kill innocent people. Lay down your weapons, or I will be forced to stop you."

_Looks like I hit a nerve. Good. _"Really?" The Baroness sounded almost amused. "I don't know if you've noticed, dear, but you're just a bit outnumbered."

"Perhaps," Starfire returned confidently, "but I will not be easily beaten."

"We'll see, freak. Vipers, _attack!_"

All at once, dozens of bullets flew at Starfire's midsectionÑor more accurately, the spot where her midsection used to be. She had begun to pull herself up and back before the enemy commander's mouth had closed. "Very well, then!" Starfire shouted, her voice hard. _I must not kill them._ Her hands were glowing with neon-green light now. She fired off several bursts, rocking the ground underneath the Baroness' feet. The older woman fell backwards as Starfire plowed into a group of Vipers, knocking them bodily to the ground. With a flick of the wrist, their weapons disappeared in a ball of hot, green energy. But she didn't stop. She was well aware of just how many people with very large guns surrounded her. She looped againÑher eyes returning to the ground just in time to see a man with incredibly bad aim gun down six of his comrades. She felt bile rising in her throat, but swallowed hard. A bullet whizzed by her hip, shattering her communicator. She had no idea whether or not a complete signal had gotten throughÑthere was always some delay when they were outside the city and had to create a link with a communications satelliteÑbut she didn't stop to worry about it. There simply wasn't time. She fired another round of bolts from her hands, careful to avoid detonating her opponents' ammunition. Six more of them crumpled, clutching burned thighs and moaning. Stopping these people without seriously hurting them would be very difficult, especially since they seemed to want nothing more than to completely annihilate her.

But not impossible. The battle raged for what seemed to Starfire like hours, but was in fact merely minutes. She had never encountered human villains that fought so fiercely without the aid of super powers or some other aiding device. But they were falling to her, slowly but surely. No one had made the mistake of gunning down their comrades again, and despite the fact that meant her enemies weren't going to thin themselves out for her, she was supremely grateful. Death, no matter on whom or how it was inflicted, was still death.

Baroness growled from her position, crouched behind a tree trunk. She'd had enough of this orange interloper. In mere minutes she'd immobilized a good number of her forces. _So much for taking on Snake Eyes._ Retreat was the goal, now; but not before she took out this Starfire. She was too dangerous to be allowed to meddle in Cobra business again. She pulled a small black comm. unit from her belt and hissed orders into it. "You in the A. G. P.s: lift off and take that orange freak down. _Now!_"

A confident voice answered. "Yes, Baroness. But she's fast. She'll be difficult to catch."

"I can fix that. _Go!_" The Russian trained her pistol on the alien girl, and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. Mere seconds later, twelve red, black, and gold egg-like crafts rose from their forest cover. Their construction was rather simplistic: an oval in the center with rectangular engines wielded to either side. The weapons, as far as Starfire could see, were located just below the propulsion systems. The ovals themselves were silver, the jets red. The main bodies were a deep obsidian shade. Each was armed with a pair of missiles and two large cannons. Starfire stopped cold, wide eyes transfixed on the army of egg-death assembling to face her. She floated there, twenty feet above the ground with her back to the Baroness, arms hanging at her sides, hands still glowingÑfor an instant, she was lost in her own shock. "What...?"

It was an instant too long. Baroness fired. As she fell towards the ground, Starfire's scream echoed throughout the valley.

The Baroness grinned. "Finish it."

Starfire's shoulder was on fire. She had been shot before, with several types of stunners and, most recently, a thermal blaster. Those things had all been painful. But this ... this was entirely different. Before she'd always lost consciousness rather quickly, before she could really feel anything, and when she'd woken up, her friends had always been there to make sure she was all right. At worst, her skin had been slightly burned. But now, she was alone, and very much awake. Her arm burned with pain, and she could feel something warm and wet sliding over her skin. She didn't have to look to know what it was. _Blood. I'm bleeding._ The wind whistled in her earsÑshe was still falling, and fast. _I ... must ... stop._

She brought herself to a halt, her feet mere inches from the snow-covered ground. She was surrounded by the remnants of the Baroness' minions. There were still at least a dozen, all with their weapons trained on her skull. And that, unfortunately, didn't count the soldiers in the flying pods. Tears of pain were beginning to cloud her vision: the slightest movement of her right arm was excruciating. The constant hum of propulsion jets was ringing in her ears. The woman known as the Baroness was smiling at her in that certain special way that made her stomach knot. It was a look of complete superiority. She spoke with a tone to match. "You've lost, freak."

Starfire had mere seconds to act. In that one, frozen moment in time, it became clear to her that her friends were not going to arrive in time to help her. It was very likely she would be gunned down; there were just to many of them. _Even so_, she thought, _I will not willingly accept defeat._ Escape was now a valid option: she would find help herself. In a flash, she swung her good arm in a wide arc and spun on her heels, sending a ring of destructive energy out in all directions. Those surrounding her reeled. Some managed to duck, but most toppled over, unconscious. The Baroness rolled to the ground, swearing in a language Starfire didn't understand. She took to the air again, raising a glowing fist over her head. She put on the best furious face she could muster. If she was right, she was dealing with a pack of cowards. And cowards, on any planet, tended to yield if you growled loudly enough.

The alien princess, damning the deadly implications, sent a bolt of power through the first pod she saw. It blew up seconds later, but Starfire wasn't interested: she'd already taken out three more of them in the same fashion. She felt something hard graze her thigh. She felt a stringing sensation, and looked down to see several of the oh-so-charming machine gunners aiming their weapons at her. Now, it was time for the running...

And so, here she was, somewhere high above some rather impressive mountains, with eight death pods and a number of ground troopers chasing after her. The latter were proving amazingly fast on their feet, easily managing to keep up with her. They were also doing a pretty good job filling the air with armor piercing slugs, but as long as she kept moving, it was difficult for them to aim well. So far, all she'd sustained in addition to the wound in her shoulder were a few more superficial scrapes. Now, the trick would be keeping it up long enough to shake them.

She dove and hid inside a thick clump of trees. It wouldn't be enough to shield her very long, but it would give her a few seconds to breathe. _This isn't working. I will not be able to outrun them all._ Her shoulder was starting to ache, every cut and scrape on her body burned mightily, and she was well aware that she was still loosing blood. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud, high-pitched noise. _Missiles. They must be growing weary as well. They have yet to use those. Time to go._

In a clearing on a hilltop two miles away, the sounds of the battle did not go unnoticed. The area was largely vacant, save a large wooden cabin. It wasn't humongous, perhaps large enough for two occupants to be fairly comfortable. At the moment, it looked largely deserted. The only sign of life was a green jeep that looked like it belonged on an army base. Indeed, a very large machine gun was affixed to its hood. Its owner was nowhere to be seen.

That changed soon enough. The cabin's door swung open, revealing an unusual figure. He was just a little over six feet, with broad shoulders and a heavily muscled physique. He wore a completely black bodysuit that covered him from head to toe, the only exception being the grey visor with horizontal bars that completely covered his eyes. It was smooth at the top, but the bottom edge sloped down, forming a v-like shape. Large gauntlets were attached to his wrists. A grey bandolier was slung across his chest, loaded with grenades. It was matched by a pair of belts clasped around his waist, both loaded down with various types of combat equipment: everything from extra ammunition for the large black pistols hanging off his thighs to a rather fearsome looking bowie knife. Sunlight bounced off the blade of the silver-hilted katana strapped to his back, causing the weapon to glitter brilliantly. The outfit was completed by storage pouches strapped to either of his legs just above the ankle. He turned his head toward the sound of the explosions.

_Company._ The man turned and ran in the direction the sound had come from, his boots not making so much as a crunching sound on the snow.

With a gasp of effort, Starfire swerved sharply to avoid another burst of machine gun fire, and found herself directly in the path of an oncoming missile. She had only herself to blame: it was getting difficult to concentrate, and she had gotten sloppy. Reflexively, she swung her left arm up and out, a green bolt slamming into the missile's payload. But it was too close. When it exploded, the shockwave threw her off balance, and something blazingly hot scraped against her forehead. She howled in pain, but it could not be heard between the sound of the engines and machine guns. Momentarily disoriented, she couldn't avoid smashing her head into a tree, and she tasted blood. Too dizzy to do anything else, and with her vision becoming increasingly hazy, she began to fall.

She hit the ground shortly thereafter, landing hard on her injured shoulder. With a supreme effort, she pushed herself up on her elbow and leaned against the tree she had impacted mere moments before. "Ugh...no...I do not wish to die like this..." Her voice was small, and for the first time that day, sounded truly scared. Nothing had gone as she had planned. There were only a dozen people left on the ground, by her last count, and five of the fliers were still in the air. She was all too aware the rest were badly wounded ... or dead. The thought of what she had been forced to do to protect herself sent a wave of nausea through her body. How many people had she killed or maimed? She could hear them coming now, shouting. It wouldn't be long, then it would all be over. Unable to do anything else, too weak and sore to move, she simply closed her eyes tightly and waited. _Robin..._

The man in black watched the scene closely from his perch high on one of the branches of a tall, older tree. He stood with his arms crossed, impassive gaze missing nothing. No one had seen or heard him approach. Then again, no one ever did. The scene below made him as close to nauseous as his ninja self-control allowed him to get. He could see the strange, orange girl leaning against a treeÑhe'd arrived just in time to see her fall out of the sky. Her clothes, which looked like something from one of the trendier stores, were scorched and torn, her shirt drenched with green blood. Her body was covered in scrapes and cuts, some noticeably deep. Any other person might have been taken aback by her odd appearance, but he had seen far too many bizarre things in his life to be easily shocked. _She's been bleeding a while; she's nearly unconscious_._ What's going on here? Why is Baroness after her?_ Behind his mask, he narrowed his eyes. It wasn't really much of a question. In all likelihood, the girl, whatever she was, had stumbled upon them while they were preparing to attack him. Again. _For someone who's supposed to be a secret weapon, I get way too many uninvited visitors._ At any rate, they would soon be made to realize their folly. The pods were level with his tree now, lined up like some perverse firing squad. They seemed to be waiting for Baroness to arrive, no doubt to give their esteemed leader the privilege of executing a defenseless, barely conscious girl. Said psychopath and her horde were coming into view, weapons ready. The Baroness was wearing a grin that made the masked man's blood boil. _You will never change will you, Anastasia?_

He drew his katana from its sheath and grasped it in front of him with both hands, blade out. It was just a little longer than his torso, but he handled it as though it were weightless. He bent at the knees, and then he was in the air. He landed on the first of the pods without any trouble, easily balancing on its curved apex. In a flash, he buried his sword's blade in one of the engines. He pulled it out just as quickly, abandoning the falling, smoking machine with a smooth somersault. When it exploded, he was long gone. His hand closed around one of the gun barrels on the nearest of its comrades, and he drove his sword up through the cockpit dome. When he pulled it out, it was covered in a bright red substance, and the small craft was falling fast. He had been moving for just about five seconds.

Adjusting his grip, the man in black swung himself back and forth a few times to gather momentum, and let go. He gracefully curled into a ball, returning his sword to its scabbard just before he hit the ground, silently and feet first. He dropped into a roll, rising to face the remaining flying vehicles with guns drawn. Even with silencers, they sang sharply as he fired.

Normally, even an armor piercing round shot from a simple nine-millimeter semi-automatic wouldn't be nearly enough to penetrate the crafts' armor. This instance was no different, which was, perhaps, why the man didn't bother shooting at the armor. Within seconds, the remaining three pods were destroyed; their pilots killed as their remaining missiles were detonated. All that remained now was the twelve men on the ground, who were all pointing and yelling at him. He turned to face the Baroness and her minions, his back to the girl. Twelve seconds. The remaining Vipers were just beginning to recover from their surprise and raise their guns. Baroness was simply watching, seemingly torn between the desire to inflict serious bodily harm upon him and the urge to flee as quickly as possible. Her eyes burned with an unparalleled rage. "Damn you, Snake Eyes! This is none of your business!"

The man in question said nothing, but returned his weapons to their holsters and went once again for his katana. He held it at with the thick side of the blade out, and stood ready. _Damning me won't help you, Anastasia. This is my home. That makes it very much my business._

Starfire was barely able to keep her eyes open now. It was so difficult to stay awake. She had been expecting a quick end; these people didn't seem like the type to gloat over her impending doom. She had been able to hear them coming, and then ... something new. There was shouting, the sound of more explosions. It seemed they weren't really concerned with her anymore. _What ... who ... who is there?_ All at once, the remains of her consciousness were filled with hope: had her friends been able to find her after all? She forced her eyes open, ignoring the wave of nausea that came with the action. Her vision was blurred, the light was painful, but she saw at once that the man defending her was too large to be Robin, his clothes too dark to be Cyborg's. Raven was out by default and Beast Boy ... well, the physique was totally wrong. And since when had any of her friends carried a sword or guns? _No_, her addled mind thought, _this is someone new._ "Who ... who are you?" The man didn't move, and Starfire couldn't wait around. Her mind was quickly being taken over by an all-encompassing darkness. Within seconds, she was gone.

_Sleep well, little one. Your fight is over._ The ninja known as Snake Eyes charged.


End file.
